36 Comments

Song MeaningI'm surprised that Everyone is simply saying, "this is just a pretty song." No one is taking into account Waters' multiple occassions talking about WWII, or the propensity for Floyd to create lyrics that hold much more meaning than first glance would reveal. This song could, of course, take dual meaning from their trip to San Tropez, as someone mentioned in a previous comment, AS WELL AS the Allied Landings that would play a large part in the liberation of France in 1944 (Operation Dragoon). But lets look at some of the terms used in this song, shall we?

As I reach for a peach - Peach = grenade
Slide a rind down behind }
The sofa in San Tropez. } - Rind, as in peach, slides behind a bunker, the sofa
Breakin' a stick - Stick = Load of Paratroopers
With a brick on the sand. - Fortified beachhead
Ridin' a wave ]
In the wake of an old sedan.] - Vehicles were brought ashore on "Ducks,"

I know there is more to the song, however I feel that Floyds lyrics can take so many meanings that I only wanted to point out what I was fairly certain about in this context. If anyone doubts Floyd's encounters with WWII, just remember "The Anzio bridgehead."

Song MeaningI'm surprised that Everyone is simply saying, "this is just a pretty song." No one is taking into account Waters' multiple occassions talking about WWII, or the propensity for Floyd to create lyrics that hold much more meaning than first glance would reveal. This song could, of course, take dual meaning from their trip to San Tropez, as someone mentioned in a previous comment, AS WELL AS the Allied Landings that would play a large part in the liberation of France in 1944 (Operation Dragoon). But lets look at some of the terms used in this song, shall we?

As I reach for a peach - Peach = grenade
Slide a rind down behind }
The sofa in San Tropez. } - Rind, as in peach, slides behind a bunker, the sofa
Breakin' a stick - Stick = Load of Paratroopers
With a brick on the sand. - Fortified beachhead
Ridin' a wave ]
In the wake of an old sedan.] - Vehicles were brought ashore on "Ducks,"

I know there is more to the song, however I feel that Floyds lyrics can take so many meanings that I only wanted to point out what I was fairly certain about in this context. If anyone doubts Floyd's encounters with WWII, just remember "The Anzio bridgehead."

I think you might be reading more into this than is really there. Not intended as a slam, just an opinion.

Many of PF's songs, particularly the first few, up to Wish You Were Were, had an awful lot to do with Syd Barret (Wish You Were Here is pretty much an entire homage to him) and his emotional and mental illness.

I think San Tropez is an emotional cripples love song. Loving someone, but not being able to be with them. The disconnect between the unconditional love of a parent, and the adult love of man for the woman of his desire, but being unable to handle the adult responsibility of that relationship.

I think the repetition of "If you're alone, I'll come home" is a statement very much like one a mother would make to a child. With the song, fairly clearly, being about an object of affection, within the context of the song, that lyric lends itself to be the battle cry of a man wanting the same kind of unconditional love from his partner, that he got from his mother, and the result of trying to reconcile those two.

General CommentI always considered this as a bit of a love song. Yes he does have metaphors that describe WWII but he uses them in a way that helps show how he wants to be back with this woman who left him. Well that's my idea, pretty basic but the majority of songs out there are love songs.

General Commentvery easy goin song.. much lighter than the rest of their collection in my opinion. i think the basic gist of the song is just about enjoying the warmth and the company of the one you love and forgetting everything else, just paying attention to the moment free from worry or care